This is the first of this year's weekly emails that you'll be receiving from me, with important information from the college and random thoughts on the nature of life.
Dear Students,
To our incoming freshmen and transfer students, I bid you Welcome to the College and to our returning students I say Welcome back! I hope you had a great summer. This is the first of weekly emails that you'll be receiving from me, with important information from the college and random thoughts on the nature of life.
Gone to Texas is a celebration to welcome all new students to UT on Tuesday, August 27th. We in Natural Sciences will start with "Gone to Natural Sciences" from 6:15 to 8:00 pm on the East Mall (east of Speedway) by the Student Activity Center (SAC) MLK statue. There will be live music, pizza and beverages, free gifts, and a chance to learn about the college's student organizations. You'll also meet members of the faculty, staff, and the deans of the college. From there, we march off to the Main Mall (by the Tower) by 8pm.
Reading Roundup: All freshmen and any other students are invited to be in a small book club on uesday August 27, 10:30-12:00. Faculty (including myself) have each selected a favorite book to discuss. There is still time to sign up and join in a discussion. Even if you have not read the book, come on out, meet some of the faculty of UT, and learn a little from the discussion and about your peers. Check out the full list of faculty here at this link. I hope to see you there.
Important Dates: You have a lot to navigate right away this fall, between getting all your books, reading and understanding the syllabi for all your courses, and possibly any last minute switches in classes you might need to do. Most important right now are dates by which to add/drop courses and to have your pre-requisites taken care of (not meeting pre-reqs like placement tests can result in you being dropped from a course!). Check out the list of important dates at the following student calendar. Each week, I'll try to keep you abreast of important dates going on in the college. If you haven't met with your advisor, make an appointment.
Meet the Dean: Your dean of the college is Dr. Linda Hicke, professor of biochemistry and chemistry. Dr. Hicke's research area is the role of ubiquitin in regulating protein traffic in eukaryotic cells, and she has published widely in this work. Dean Hicke came to UT from Northwestern University, where she also started a program much like our Freshman Research Initiative here at UT, and also served as associate chair of biochemistry there, so she knows a lot about students.
Meet the Student Dean: The student dean is me, Dr. Sacha Kopp, professor of physics; my area is in elementary particle physics. I oversee honors programs, freshman advising, career services, the undergraduate research program office, placement in courses, and health professions. I've been told I'm also a reasonably funny guy -- for a physicist. Many of you have met me at orientations, and many of you will see me in freshman signature courses or conference courses this fall. I'm your advocate and advisor, so please contact me any time in WCH 2.222 or 512-232-0677.
Again, I look forward to spending this year with you. Enjoy your first week!
Yours,
Sacha Kopp
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education,
College of Natural Sciences
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